they keep calling you unholy
by HiddenEye
Summary: "I did say it was mutual." Something ugly flashes across his handsome face, accenting the angle of his nose and the sharp structure of his cheeks, and she's faintly reminded that he looks like those beautiful marble statues of his relatives. Cold, judgeful. "You're lying." Jeyna.
1. Envy

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to their respectful owners.

A/N: SWEATS I'm supposed to finish that Ancient Rome au but this came along and well

Seven Deadly Sins because Yes

* * *

"It's mutual," she replies to his posture, to his look, his strong shoulders bunches up from where he folds his arms in indication of what he sees with his own eyes, of what makes him sought her out. She takes note of them all, keeps the information safe in the dark corner of her mind as she notices the way he holds himself against the frame of the door. For blackmail purposes she suppose. "You know this."

He shrugs, a poor attempt at casualty, she thinks; where everything is too tense, too forced. "I know."

She raises an eyebrow, planting her hands on the desk behind her for support, the black dress she wears stretches across her thighs and chest. "And?"

She resists the shiver that threatens to crawl along her spine when he drags his eyes along her form, the blues almost disappears by the black that swallows it. And then, he snaps them to her face, not even abashed that he's been caught as he inclines his head, the only light of the room catches the golden strands of his hair that it glows among the semi darkness that wallows around them. "Does he mean that much to you?"

She gives the slightest rise of her shoulders, the dark curls of her long hair brushes against her bare arms. "I did say it was mutual."

Something ugly flashes across his handsome face, accenting the angle of his nose and the sharp structure of his cheeks, and she's faintly reminded that he looks like those beautiful marble statues of his relatives. Cold, judgeful. "You're lying."

The corner of her lips twists into a wane smirk before she can stop herself, bitterly amused at his accusation. "Why would I lie to you, Jason?"

"Because I know you," he declares blatantly while he pushes himself off the door, as if it's obvious, as if he _has_ to remind her of where they stand. It's dreadfully clear he keeps Lupa's low growls of teachings in his heart, for every step his makes towards her is a splitting image of Lupa's silent stalk, where she can imagine the wolf's hunches rises and lowers with deliberate grace. And it seems, he has the ability to appear that way despite being human.

He isn't the only one who adopts his teacher's characteristics.

Like Lupa, Reyna doesn't falter when she's being advanced, only watching him now stand in front of her as she merely tilts her head up to meets his gaze properly. Blue, _blue_ eyes burns with emotions she's all too familiar with stares back at her, and she finds herself feeling a spark of vehement _want_ that she pushes it away forcefully.

No.

She _refuse_.

"Or you used to," she interjects, tracing the length of his jaw mentally, fingers twitching with that damn _itch_ she has been trying to get rid of a long time ago. "After that little expedition with Juno, your memory isn't exactly excellent."

"But I _remember_ ," he says lowly, a tick in his jaw to show how transparent he can be with his frustration. "I know I do."

She knows whatever they had when they're younger turned into something else entirely; some might say it evolved, changing the mutual friendship and care they have for each other into something much more harsher than they thought it would be, where it is unrecognisable all together that they don't know how to handle this _beast_ they have within themselves.

She knows that he shouldn't even feel like this after three years since the end of Gaia, his memories are confusing him more than she would like, moulding the false facts Juno planted inside his brain with his old memories, his _real_ memories. Memories where it concerns them and the possibilities that comes with it.

She doesn't want him to confuse her with the disgusting hopeful girl she was before he's wretched away from her.

She also knows that the hopeful girl she used to be awakens at the sight of him even if she tries to lock it down, where the same pure _hope_ of things ignites with such ferocity she has thought she lost.

But, she _can't_ let it happen. Not again. Not after the first time of having her heart ripped out from her chest.

"You don't," she replies coldly, gripping the edge of the desk. "You're still confused, your memories are still muddled up. Whatever you're feeling now?" She gestured towards him with a flick of her wrist. "It's not real."

He narrows his eyes at her, making him look dangerous that she only stand her ground, not even considering to back down. "Stop pushing me away, Reyna," he mutters, the digits of his fingers brushes ever so slightly against the back of her arm that causes lightning to strike down her spine, her breath tempted to be robbed. But she holds still, locking her jaw as she ignores the way the fine hairs at the back of her neck raises up. "I want-"

"No," she stops him firmly, pushes herself off the desk as she straightens herself up, and again, she ignores the way the slightest hitch of his breath when she almost touches his arm. "You can't. You can't betray Piper."

She feels the way his fingers wraps loosely around the crooked bend of her elbow, but she doesn't look down as he frowns at her. "Piper doesn't have anything to do with this."

"I assume Malcolm doesn't either then," Reyna retaliates drily. "Not when he's the reason why you can't even give me some privacy to have a breather."

His grip on her tightens slightly. "Stop it."

"I'm just stating it for what it is," she reminds him smoothly, barely acknowledging the fact that her hand has a mind of its own when it clutches onto the hem of his dress shirt; a warning. "You can't deny the facts."

"And yet you're here dancing around it like this is some damn _waltz_ ," he snaps, and she raises an eyebrow dully, knowing how he hates it when she acts like this; being as stubborn as a mull. He lets out a sharp breath. "Fucking hell, Reyna."

The smile she dons is more of baring teeth, something feral stretches across her lips. "Go back to the party. Percy would be moaning for his best friend later if you don't stop him from consuming all that alcohol on his birthday."

"It's his party, he can do what he wants." He replies without missing a beat. "And stop changing the subject."

"What do you want from me, Jason?" She growls, her fingers twisting in his shirt as she leans forward to look at him square in the eye, as if proving a point, not matter how petty it seems to her. "You can't corner me forever just because you want to force answers out of me."

"I would never do anything without your full consent, Reyna," he looks hurt that she would even consider so lowly of him, giving her that wounded look where she has been hating it the moment she knows how weak she becomes at the mere sight of it. "But I know right now that you're actually _willing_ to tell me."

She feels the blood pulsing in her veins, the flushed desire leaves her hot and cold at once that she feels uncomfortable in her own skin, where everything is too tight above her flesh that she has the urge to dig her nails into her own arm and tears all those away.

He must have seen a glimpse of what she struggles to hide when his gaze drops to her lips, and a snarl makes its way on her mouth as she yanks him forward, causing him to let out a sound of surprise as she grips onto his shoulders.

"Do you really want me to tell you?" She growls, her cheek pressing firmly against his while her lips brushes against the lobe of his ear. She feels the tremor of his body when he clutches onto her waist, his strong fingers and her painful grip holding them both upright at this point; and she notes bitterly that even now, when they're desperate for things they can't have, they maintain the same equilibrium they've created the moment they met. "Because it won't be pretty once it's out."

"I think I know," he murmurs, turning his head slightly to the side to graze his lips against the apple of her cheek, and she bites her lip to prevent the moan from coming out. "But I want you to say it."

Bastard.

She chuckles humourlessly, and then pulls away to give a quick nip of his bottom lip with her teeth, tearing herself out of his embrace before he has another second to react. "Well, it's already obvious," she begins casually as she walks towards the door, hearing the way he gasps like a dying man behind her. She turns around to face him again, her own heart dropping to her feet went she sees the possessiveness that glares in his eyes, the way he wears his heart at his sleeve as he stares painfully after her. She smirks at him, and the look darkens.

"I want you."


	2. Lust

A/N: Oho this pairing is just delicious. Let's get the drama going shall we?

* * *

A mistake.

That's what she's done back at the room that night, doing things that haven't been thought through properly.

She suppose, that isn't new when it comes to _him_.

The party ends with the usually heartfelt goodbyes from the guests. And there would be another meeting next month where she and Annabeth are going to discuss the combined forces of Roman and Greek, and they hope both groups are able to train with each others company without the hatred and comprehension that has been bubbling between them for the past thousands of years; and possibly, train with each other without decapitating their opponents.

It isn't easy work she knows, when she thinks of the begrudged yielding of her people, the anger that burns in them still evident despite her best efforts to make their hearts soften enough for some trust to settle in. She also thinks of the paper work on her desk, wincing internally when she remembers the assignments from college she has to do on top of it.

She hopes that Frank covers half of the reports so that she will be able to finish the rest of them off later.

She's one of the last few people to leave Sally Jackson's apartment, and Sally is generous enough to let Percy use her apartment for his party while she spends the night out with Paul Blofis on their honeymoon. And now, where the lights are dimmed and the buzz of the party starts to hum with a lazy air, the only ones hanging around the living room are those who are close to Percy; to which it includes The Seven as well as Nico and Will.

Reyna finds herself sitting on one of the stools at the counter, leaning against the pillar as she faces the fridge in the kitchen with a half filled plastic cup of coke loosely held in her hand. The party ends around an hour ago as the rest of them lounges lazily somewhere behind her, their quiet murmurs floats towards where she drills her glare on one of Percy's old childish drawings that Sally sticks fondly on the surface of the fridge with a fish magnet.

She hears the scrap of another stool being dragged beside her and doesn't turn to acknowledge them, hearing the way it creaks slightly under their weight. "Are you done moping?"

She takes a drink from her cup. "Who ever said I was moping?"

"Well," Nico begins, making himself comfortable by mimicking her position on the pillar behind them, his arm brushing against hers. "You tried too hard to look happy after you came out of Percy's room, to which Jason followed a minute later."

The corner of her lips threatens to tug down, but she only settles to drink again to cover it up. "I was enjoying myself at the party."

"After that escape?" There's dry amusement colouring his tone that makes her finally face him, where she sends him a dull look. "Laughable."

See, there's this bond between them that makes it special in a sense that they don't have the need to filter their words when it comes to each other. Every jab of mockery and taunt is well considered and quietly appreciated even if some people blanches at their conversations, where they're the only two people who is able to insult each other without fearing of losing a limb or a head.

She likes to think it's the sibling rivalry they think they deserve.

"Laugh all you want," she responds easily, letting him pluck the cup from her fingers as he takes a gulp of drink from it, finishing it off entirely. "I'm telling you the truth."

"Never said you were lying," he uses the same tone as a response, stretching behind her to set aside the empty cup on the counter. "But then, you just proved my point."

She rolls her eyes, still surprised sometimes at how he's able to par her depressing sarcasm with his own jab of snark. She's glad that they're friends, where she actually has the chance to relax fully in front of company without worrying people might pry about things she doesn't want to discuss. "Aren't you supposed to make out with your boyfriend by now?"

"You want a show?" He shoots back, snickering when she nudges him in the ribs lightly with another roll of her eyes. "If you keep doing that, your eyes are gonna fall off."

She does it again for spite, causing him to huff out a breath of laughter. "Yes, _Mother_ ," she presses as she begins to braid her loose hair, ignoring the little scream in her head that suspiciously sounds like Piper as she destroys the curls that's been beautifully done by the daughter of Venus. She wiggles her fingers at him as a prompt, and he digs deep in his jeans pocket to retrieve an extra black rubber band for her to use on her own hair. "Or should I call you grandfather? You _are_ awfully old, you know, just got transferred into the modern world in a younger body," she let's her braid rest on her shoulder. "Like Captain America popped out of a block ice."

He lets out a bark of laughter that prompts her to smile. "Except that I was stuck in a casino, a terrible concept for a nine year old might I add. And also, I'm not blonde, buff, or righteous enough to be worthy of carrying that title," he smirks faintly at her, humourlessly. "I think the death toll for that exceeded already."

She hums, flicking a finger on his forehead that he lets out a sound of protest. "You're more of a Bucky Barnes then."

He rubs the spot slowly. "No, he became Captain America too anyway." He raises an eyebrow at her. "Speaking of blondes, are you done avoiding the question?"

"I wasn't aware there was even a question in the first place," she replies airily, smoothing down the front of her dress to avoid his unimpressed look. "Besides, we were talking about brunettes."

She turns her head to face him properly then, where he's calmly staring at her with a thoughtful look on his face that she immediately doesn't like, and she starts to scowl at him. "Stop that."

His expression goes carefully blank in less than a second, and she likes that even less. "If you don't want to talk about it," he begins lowly, peering at her with those dark eyes through his hair, clearly assessing her. "then I won't push anymore."

"Good." She almost snaps, but then she takes a breath before calming herself down. "It's better this way."

He hums, breaking eye contact as he looks ahead, shoving his hands in his pant's pockets. "You don't think that."

No, she doesn't. She's been living in the silence for far too long to think that it's good to not talk about it, or worse, to _adapt_ to it.

But she doesn't say it, of course. She doesn't need too when it's obvious he already knows by the way his eyebrows arches defiantly at her.

And then, Malcolm comes walking in with some empty glasses, takes one good look at the both of them slumped against the pillar, and smiles unsurely. "Am I interrupting a therapy session?"

Nico snorts while Reyna watches Malcolm sets the glasses inside the sink and starts to turn on the knob. "Sure, if that's what you call it."

Malcolm chuckles, glancing back to send them a grin. "It looks like it, though."

She feels the soft affection for him she always has whenever they're in the same room the moment their eyes meet, where the corner of his mouth softens just for her that makes her stand up, wanting to help him do the dishes.

"I should be paid then," Nico replies mildly once she feels Malcolm's arm brushes against hers, where the same soft smile is still on his lips. "It's hard work to tell people to get their wits straight."

She feels as if Nico's deliberating aiming that sentence towards her way, but she ignores it when she reaches to the side to pluck a clean cloth from the counter and starts to wipe the wet glasses.

Malcolm raises an eyebrow at her. "Is he talking about you?"

She shrugs. "I have no idea."

"I heard that."

She turns around to shoot Nico a sweet smile, leaning against the counter as she continues to work, hands and fingers quick to rub the cloth around and inside the glass. "I know."

Malcolm turns off the knob to wipe his hands, a wide grin on his face as he's about to no doubt say something witty towards them all when Jason walks into the kitchen, dirty saucers and forks piled in his hands.

Reyna calmly meets his blue gaze from where he stands at the doorway, to which he looks surprised to find her near the sink with Malcolm and Nico in the same room.

"Jason, hey," Malcolm greets him instead, and Jason tears his eyes away from her stare to give the other blond a tight smile, slowly walking towards their way.

"Hey," Reyna doesn't move when he stands beside her, feeling his body heat seeping into her own skin that she reminds herself to not react while he settles the dishes in sink. She notes that she has both men on each side of her, one of them stockier than the other but both having a steady presence that ironically, it doesn't makes her any less tense than she should feel when she's surrounded by friends.

She can feel Nico's prodding look as he stares at the scene before him, and she realises it isn't that hard to imagine what it looks like, having the two men so near her. In the end, she ignores Nico entirely as she begins keeping the wiped glasses in the cupboard above her head.

"Nico, Percy's crying for you," Jason begins with a smirk as he washes those saucers, and Reyna ignores the way her stomach flips as well. "Said something about you being a traitor and not coming to his party."

"I _am_ at his party," Nico rolls his eyes. "Is he really that wasted he can't even remember I'm here?"

"Yeah," Jason laughs, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "He's about to do something stupid, you'll able to catch him doing it before Annabeth stops him if you go now."

Nico grunts slightly as he pries himself off the stool. "If he dies, I'm not going to look for him."

Malcolm chuckles. "I think he had more to drink than all of us combined, I was slightly concerned for him when I saw him finishing the bottles off."

Nico shakes his head as he trudges his way out of the kitchen. "God dammit, Jackson."

Malcolm suddenly straightens himself up as well. "Where are you going?" Reyna asks, hoping that her voice doesn't sound as panicked as she feels when he begins to follow Nico out.

"Help my sister out," he informs her with a shrug. And then, as if he knows what she truly feels, he smiles at her again, leaning forward to brush his lips against her cheek, sweet and short, that she stares at him when he withdraws. "And hoping she doesn't kill him."

Eerily, there's something about his last sentence that has sounds suspiciously like it has a double meaning in them, as if he's referring to her as well. But she knows that's just paranoia, and she hates it when it's because Jason is the cause of it.

The last thought causes a spark of anger in her chest, and she raises her head to capture Malcolm's lips with hers briefly, but he's already leaning away that they land at the corner of his mouth instead.

He's caught off guard when he looks down at her, where she isn't ashamed at what she's done as she meets his look boldly, her lips purses into a thin line. "Call me if it gets ugly."

He blinks away his surprise, and gives her a smile that seems to lit up his whole face, and guilt begins to press onto her chest steadily. "Alright."

When he leaves, she leans against the counter in exhaustion, brushing away the strands of hair from her face as she let's out a soft sigh.

"You did that on purpose."

She inclines her head towards Jason's way, seeing the raw hurt that etches on his face that she purses her lips, prolonging her reply as she holds his gaze steadily. "I did."

She sees the way he's gripping the edge of the counter, and she won't be surprised if he breaks it. " _Why?_ "

She chuckles breathlessly. "Like I said," she shoots him a grin. "It's mutual."

He growls, taking a step forward. "You can't just tell me that after confessing to me-"

"You're still with Piper," she pronounces the words slowly, hoping that it gets through his thick head because she isn't sure she wants anymore of this just yet. "You're in a relationship with her, Jason. And you know that it doesn't matter what you feel about me, not when you're still with her."

He opens his mouth to say anymore, but clamps it shut again when she tilts her head to the side curiously, and if she dares admit it, mockingly.

Then, with a blink of an eye, he's already in her space, pressing himself next to her that she sucks her breath in surprise when his overwhelming presence consumes her whole being once again, almost suffocating her when she can smell the remains of his cologne stuck on him, mingling with the faint sweet smell of softener from his shirt that ignites a familiar memory from the past.

Her hand shoots up to press itself against his abdomen in reflex, where she finds herself pinned to the counter while he has his hand planted firmly on the surface behind her, effectively trapping her with his wide shoulders.

She swallows thickly when he grazes his lips ever so slightly against the corner of her eye, the hard planes of his chest aligned itself deliciously with her own body that every breath she takes makes them touch even more. "What do you think you're doing?" She asks quietly, because _dammit_ this isn't supposed to be this way.

His fingers traces up the length of her spine, and she can't stop the small keen that escapes her lips while her head lolls slightly to the side, exposing her neck towards him. "A taste of your own damn medicine." He answers just as softly, and that alone sends another thrill down to her marrow.

"Oh, please," she peers at him through her lashes, and the hand she has on his pelvis rises up to the waist of his jeans, where the rough material rubs against the pads of her hand and causes him to release a puff of breath at the end of her jaw, tickling her skin as he pulls her more towards him. "What I did wasn't even that encouraging."

"Pretty convincing to me," she can feel him smirk, dragging his bottom lip down her neck that she clutches onto his belt, biting down the groan. "Could have fooled me more times than I can count."

"Oh, fuck you." She snaps, her tone becoming dangerously close to breathy when she feels the tease of his teeth. She feels almost light-headed while absolutely, and utterly, _furious_ at this point now that he knows what he's doing, pushing her buttons with enough knowledge that she isn't going to give him the satisfaction of showing him how putty she can be.

Her heart jumps when he hums thoughtfully, and the sound vibrates against her bare shoulder that manages to travel to the center of her core, a wave of heat passes through her whole body.

"You sure you're ready for that?" He taunts, fingers brushing against her shoulder blades. Without warning, he gives her a quick nip of her collarbone, one that isn't too hard to leave a mark, but it's enough to cause her to jump in surprise as a squeak falls out, the sensations crawling across her skin that she swears it branches out to her toes.

"Yo, Jason!"

As quick as lightning, Jason detaches himself from her to stand near the fridge, feigning to study Percy's old drawings while Reyna is still trying to compose herself by the time Leo comes stumbling into the kitchen, a large grin on his red tinted face, his dark curls looks as if someone just gave him a very aggressive rubbing. He's about to speak again when he snaps his mouth shut, blinking from Reyna's carefully passive expression to Jason's raising eyebrow.

" _Okay_ ," Leo drawls, clumsily folding his arms together, trying to appear stern that it takes him a couple of tries to prevent himself from slipping to the ground as he leans against the door frame. "What the heck happened here?"

Jason shrugs a shoulder, and Reyna doesn't look at him when he replies all too casually that her nerves starts to aggravate more at how impossibly _calm_ he sounds at the moment. "You were going to tell me something?"

Like a light bulb, Leo instantly brightens and drops his arms to his sides, marching his way towards his friend. "Oh _man_ , you gotta watch this. It's fucking hilarious and I recommend it being used as blackmail for all those times Percy tried to drown us with his big ass waves when we're at the beach." He gives a brief look towards Reyna as if he suddenly remembers she's there, and wiggles his fingers in greeting. "Hey, Rey-Rey."

She crosses her arms, ignoring Jason's heavy look on her. "Leo."

"Ouch, _so_ cold," Leo sighs dramatically, sniffling as he wipes away an imaginary tear. "Couldn't have given me a cheery greeting, Rey?"

"Your drunk self is giving me a headache." she says flatly.

He snorts, waving away her statement. "'m not _drunk_."

She only gives him undeterred look.

"Fine, so maybe, 'm a _little_ drunk, but nothing bad," he shrugs, and let's out a yelp when Jason pulls him away, narrowly missing planting his face on the fridge.

"Yeah, sure." She replies drily.

Jason clasps his hands on Leo's shoulders to prevent him from swaying on his feet, while the curly haired boy only stares at the fridge in front of him, as if it somehow offends him in anyway of sorts. "Come on, Leo, what were you going to show me?"

"Percy!" Leo suddenly burst out, speed walking out of the kitchen as he tugs Jason in tow. "Show Jason the thing again!"

She manages to catch the look Jason shoots her before he leaves, and that causes her to clench her jaw when she sees the clarity of its meaning.

 _Later_.


	3. Gluttony

A/N: There's some things I've search up about Roman Laws that I ended up putting it in here, but, if you think the info is wrong, feel free to correct me.

* * *

It seems that Jason has a remarkable amount of patience when it comes to the both of them.

And Reyna, feeling more human than she has ever proved in front of company, is beginning to think she's disappointing her mother _and_ her sister by the way Reyna keeps having thoughts about that son of Jupiter.

But, misfortune has yet to rained upon her or any blatant disapproval that Bellona would have done the honours of showing hasn't been revealed just yet, and Reyna is getting more and more restless since that little incident in the kitchen, her emotions on an edge that it's becoming difficult to reign them in as forcefully as she used to, her vice grip faltering everytime the briefest colour of blue hones flashes through her mind's eye.

It's been a month since Percy's party, where at the moment, she greets the Greeks stepping foot on her home soil as they clamber down from Festus, and she only watches with her hands folded lightly behind her, purple toga stirs slightly from the breeze.

Annabeth gets to her first, and Reyna greets her with a small smile compared to the other girl's tired one, her blonde hair looks as if it's been tied hastily into a ponytail while she clutches rolls of scrolls in her arms. "Shall we?"

Reyna takes an armful of scrolls from her to relieve the weight, and Annabeth shoots her a grateful look. "You look like me." Reyna comments upon her obvious exhaustion as Annabeth blows away a strand of hair.

"Well," she starts, flashing a quick smirk that left as soon as it came. "Facial expressions tend to be shared when we're doing the same things. It's like passing a bottle of vodka between us."

"And in the end, we'll only get drunk," Reyna finishes amusedly as they start to walk towards her office, passing Roman soldiers as they hastily make their way towards the flying ship to tie it down at the mast, listening to Leo's orders as he shuts down the mechanisms for Festus to land. "Admirable analogy."

Annabeth chuckles. "Everything that comes out of my mouth right now is on autopilot, so, forgive me if I say anything brash that would offend you in any way."

Reyna feels the corner of her mouth twitch. "I've done things much worse." She offers as a way of relief.

Humming in a distracted sort of way, she's able to feel Annabeth's gaze as they continue to walk, calculating in a way that makes Reyna sure she locks all the doors she's trying to tear down. But she doesn't say a word though, only hums thoughtfully as they trudge inside.

And then, they're pouring over the scrolls of old laws to think of new ones with Frank and Percy, where the two men give their own thoughts into murmurs of suggestions as the two women listens to them carefully, pointing the flaws of what would happen if one is to consider moving some of the house residents to make room for the Greeks, or when they build small temples of the Greek gods at one of the many spaces Camp Jupiter has, and vice versa. Not only it will show how far they've come together to create peace, it will also be a historical experience, where one shall know the other.

They even went through the criminal records of what people committed then as well, brainstorming some ideas that could prevent it from happening again while considering the fact that they would train certain people harder than others, to act as special guards, or a police force to put it bluntly. Even if Reyna thought it'd be better and fair if they are all trained equally without favouring one group of people to the other.

However, they set aside the later idea aside for the moment, and will dive back in when they ask for the others' opinion.

"Jason's already making temples for minor gods," Percy explains as he straightens up, arching his back to get rid of the kinks with a pop of bones. "Maybe we can discuss this with him while he's at it, tell him that we wanna add some of the Gods' Roman counterpart and the other gods in Camp Half Blood, while doing the same thing at Camp Jupiter. It'll be a one way thing, and we don't have to worry about it so much in the future."

"It's almost as if we're saddling on his work," Reyna comments mildly, raising her eyes over the top of a scroll she's been scanning through.

He spreads his arms almost comically. "Well, it's better then going back and forth and wasting time."

Frank hums, standing beside Reyna to pass her another scroll for her to look at while he scans the other. "It's a good idea, and I'm sure Jason wouldn't mind."

" _If_ we help him," Annabeth adds from where she scribbles some of the laws inside a notebook. "He's not going to be exactly happy when he finds out we're just going to dump everything on him later."

Percy rolls his eyes, making his way around the table to scoop a handful of red jellybeans from the bowl that's perched in front of Reyna before throwing a few into his mouth, purposely ignoring her glare. "Of _course_ we'll help him, can't let Superman do all the work by himself, can we?" While munching, he peers over her shoulder to look at the scroll she has been reading. "What's that?"

" _Leges Duodecim Tabularum_ ," she answers as she delicately smooths the creases of the scroll on the table despite it being like that for years, allowing her to feel the brittleness of the yellow paper under her fingers. "The Law of the Twelve Tablets. Or at least," she gestures towards it with a sweep of her hand. "there are only a copy of it written years ago."

Annabeth frowns slightly, her pen resting on the paper. "Is it the same as the twelve shields?"

Reyna shakes her head as Frank puts down a rolled scroll beside her arm. "The 'twelve shields' of King Numa Pompilius is different from this; they're distinguished from one another, older."

"So, uh," Percy points to one of the tables. "How did the twelve tables happen, exactly?"

It's Frank who shrugs. "Some long social struggle between patricians and plebeians, I think. Initially only patricians were eligible to become magistrates and this, among other plebeian complaints was a source of discontent for plebeians. Basically," he continues patiently when Percy starts to look blankly at him. "They're like toddlers fighting on who becomes Cinderella and who becomes the stepsisters."

Percy snorts as he straightens up. "Well, that's a way to put it." He waves towards the table he points. "And that?"

Reyna narrows her eyes at it. "Table IV," she replies airily. " _Paterfamilias_."

When she offers no other explanation for the next few seconds, Percy starts to raise an eyebrow. "Which is?" He drawls.

She ignores the quick glance Frank sends to her way before he answers slowly. "Rights of fathers over the family."

Reyna doesn't pay their silence any mind when she begins to unroll the scrolls on the desk one by one, arranging them in an ascending order while she starts to list off table IV. "Number one, a dreadfully deformed child shall be quickly killed. Number two, if a father sells his son three times, the son shall be free from his father." She shakes her head, lips purses into a thin line. "Sometimes, I don't agree with the laws that happened before."

"Which is why we're thinking of new ones," Annabeth adds with a reassuring smile. "Time's changed, lifestyles have changed; and making this truce between us was a good idea in the first place, it helps us alter things of ways that we could make it work."

Frank flits his eyes over the scrolls. "It's a good start."

"True, I mean, if you think _this_ is bad," Percy smirks with a stab of his finger on one of the scrolls. "You should see the laws us Greeks did; the Romans did replicate a huge chunk of it from the Greeks, so the apple can't fall far from the tree."

Reyna fills the way the corner of her lips twitches. "True."

He shrugs. "Know thyself and beshit thyself."

"Was that a quote from Kill Your Darlings?" Annabeth snickers as reaches over and picks some jellybeans from the bowl, and Reyna only shoots her a withering look that's been ignored as well.

"Hey, it's a good movie, I can attest to that," he sniffs. "Very gay, but _very_ good."

"Was that the same movie Nico told you to watch?" Frank gives him a small smile, eyes twinkling with mirth.

"The one he _ordered_ me to watch, and I decided to humour him."

"And ended up finishing watching it anyways." Annabeth rolls her eyes, throwing a jellybean at his way that he manages to catch with his hand, wiggling his eyebrows at her that she rolls her eyeballs again. "And liking it too."

He pops the bean into his mouth. "Like I said, it's a good movie. And I recommend that all of you should watch it."

"Watch what?"

Reyna freezes at the sound of his voice, feeling the way Percy whirls around to greet their friend rather than seeing it, a grin on his face. "Jason! Just the man we all wanted to see."

His footsteps squeaks slightly as he comes nearer towards the desk where he begins to stand by her shoulder, a familiar notion that her body betrays her by relaxing slightly at the warmth that flows from him when she wants to appear defiant, making her curse silently in her head as she restrains herself from showing everyone what she feels. He plants a hand on the desk as he scans through the scrolls on the table. "Is this the Twelve Tables?"

She quickly takes a hold of herself, clamping down the last of the dark feelings forcefully. "Yes," she answers smoothly, slapping away the hand so that she can pry the scroll off the table. "And we don't _lean_ on old laws as if they're table mats."

"Sorry," he mutters as he straightens his posture. "Anyway, why do you guys wanna see me?"

As Frank and Percy explains to him what the four of them have discussed, Reyna looks up to the obvious pointed stare Annabeth is currently giving her, grey eyes focused sorely on her that Reyna only arches an eyebrow tauntingly.

Annabeth only narrows her gaze as a responds, clearly unimpressed that Reyna gives her a twitch at the corner of her lips before focusing on the men.

Only to find his eyes focused on her, his hip leaning against the desk with his arms crossed. The shirt he wears is distractingly fitting that it stretches across his biceps and chest while Percy and Frank only explains to him of their situation while he nods to whatever they say.

When their gazes meet, he gives the same twist of a smile she gives Annabeth not a moment ago, and she feels something cold splash onto her at that look.

Her fingers twitches as she smooths the scrolls again.

* * *

"Jason, you coming?"

Reyna doesn't turn around from where she's keeping the scrolls when she hears Frank's call, and keeps slipping the old papers into their given slots while Jason helps her at the other row.

"I'll catch up with you later," he answers with a smile. "I'm almost done anyway."

She knows Frank is studying them, but instead of the judgemental stares they always get, he gives them a subdued version of exasperation; and she finds dry humour in that because while he doesn't outwardly show how worried he is everytime he leaves them in a same room together nowadays, and yet, she can still _feel_ the intensity of it that she actually feels touched at his concern.

Frank shuffles in his spot for a moment, before he lets out a small breath that suspiciously sounds like a sigh. "Alright," he grunts out, soundly vaguely bear-like she almost smiles. "I'll see you later."

They keep working silently despite the door clicking shut behind them, and she feels the way the air thickens despite her best to ignore it.

The moment she slips the last of the scrolls on its place, everything seems to freeze into something deafeningly quiet that she can actually _hear_ the breeze blowing outside her window, the quiet hum settles over her skin as she glares into the spot in front of her; fingers almost holding onto the shelf, jaw clenched.

"Reyna."

She grinds her teeth more that she doesn't care if they're going to shatter, and slowly turns to look up at him.

He's been _waiting_ , the damn bastard actually has the audacity to _wait_ as if he doesn't _know_ -

Without a word, she steps into his space with two quick strides that she ignores the way his eyes widen before she brings up her hand to the back of his neck, tugging him down that his lips are pressed firmly against hers.

She feels something deflate with absolute _relief_ when he sighs into her kiss, his broad hands holding onto her waist as he begins to kiss her back with much enthusiasm as she feels, angling his head to get a better taste of her that she almost shudders when the tip of his tongue prods against her lips.

And before she knows it, she feels him turning them around so that he's crowding her to the shelves, where they poke into her shoulder blades as she pulls him nearer towards her, something _desperate_ licks in chest when her arms winds around his neck on their own.

"Reyna," he mumbles as he begins directing his kisses to the corner of her mouth, to the apple of her cheek, a flutter of lips that she swallows down the ball of emotion that lodges itself in her throat. And then, he's wrapping his own arms tightly around her while burying his face into her neck with a sharp inhale of breath. " _Gods_."

She tries not to choke when he begins to pepper open mouthed kisses at the corner of her jaw, teeth grazing that she feels as if her heart is about to _burst_ out of her chest when his nails graze against her waist, her abdomen, leaving her skin burning with such _fire_ that her gasps mixes with the whine that manages to escape past her lips.

She _clings_ onto him, arches her body into his that he growls into their kiss, his hand now spread into the dip of her back that she swears her skin is blazing at this point.

" _Chaise_ ," she gasps when he sinks his teeth into her bottom lip, her fingers raking down his back that he jerks slightly into her, his own groan rumbling up his throat. " _Now_."

He doesn't need to be told twice when she's already pushing him there, where they stumble with drunk filled steps before he sits heavily on it while she's already climbing up his lap, bracketing him between her legs that a large blanket-like fur that drapes on the chaise digs into her knees while she tangles her fingers into his hair, tugging his head back before she presses her lips onto his with pure unadulterated _want_.

His hands rests on her waist again as he pulls her body flush towards him, where she can feel the uncontrollable grin that stretched seemingly across his mouth that she runs her tongue over it.

"Stop being so smug." She mutters against the corner of his lips, running her hands down the back of his head before clutching onto his shoulders as if her life depends on it.

He hums, wrapping his arms around her before he lets them fall on the ground, causing her to yelp as he manages to flip them over as he cushions most of the fall.

He grins up at her when she blinks back at him in shock, before lifting his head to press a soft kiss on her lips that she immediately melts into it without so much of a restrain that she feels like kicking herself later. "I'm not."

And then, they're kissing with vigour again that his shirt comes off first, where they're shedding clothes and littering the floor that he pulls the blanket-like fur from the chaise to drape it over the both of them.


End file.
